Gunmen kill 13 in fresh Plateau attacks

No fewer than 13 Berom natives have been killed by unknown gunmen in overnight attacks on Jol village in Riyom Local Council of Plateau State.The council’s Management Committee Chairman, Emmanuel Danboyi Jugu, who confirmed the incident yesterday in Jos, stated that the violence was hatched on Tuesday night. He added that the victims had been mass buried.“Ten persons, including women and children, have been given mass burial. Three other bodies have just been discovered,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the state command, DSP Mathias Terna Tyopev, feigned ignorance, saying he was yet to get details from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO).However, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, yesterday accused the elders and elite of stoking the violent clashes in the state.
Represented by the Commander, Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), Major-General Augustine Agundu at the burial of three soldiers killed in Barkin Ladi on September 6 this year, Buratai noted that the body language of the accused as well their actions was emboldening the youths to maim and kill innocent citizens.He said: “It is evident that these youths are supported by a section of the elite and elders resulting in the absence of any tangible progress towards peace.

“The actions or inactions of the elders can be classified as one of the contributory sources that has rather emboldened the youths to maim and kill innocent passers-by at their whims and caprices.“Human dignity has lost its value on the Plateau. The troops of OPSH like all service personnel are officially detailed to the state to perform the duties they swore on oath.”

The COAS regretted that the soldiers who had been peacekeepers were fast becoming victims of the internal strife.“It is evident that there exist armed ethnic militia groups sponsored or supported by some elite and elders who deploy the misguided youths into committing the worst of heinous crimes. There is certainly no constitutional provision that allows civilians to bear fire arms but their possession has become a well sort-out vocation here on the Plateau,” he stated.

Also yesterday, the authorities of University of Jos said they had found the missing Ashoms Galadima, a 100 Level Psychology student, who was declared missing in the wake of the renewed unrest in parts of the city. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Seddi Sebastian Maimako, in a statement by the institution’s Principal Assistant Registrar/Information and Publications Officer, Abdullahi Abdullahi, said the undergraduate, who was found in the custody of the Special Task Force (STF) of OPSH, had since reunited with his family. The management said it had put in place measures to safeguard lives and property within the university community.